An Art Scene Flourishes Behind Closed Doors in Saudi Arabia

Arwa Alneami’s latest art project is called the “Drop Zone,” named after the vertical, free-fall amusement park ride. Her work is made up of photographs and videos from a theme park in her hometown of Abha, in southern Saudi Arabia. The rules for women there have become so strict that the park has signs telling them they can’t scream loudly on the rides. “You should hear the voice of the ladies, they cannot scream,” she says, and then imitates the stifled screams of the women clad entirely in black in her videos. Alneami is a young Saudi artist pushing against the many red lines in the conservative society where she lives. She’s not breaking them, she says. She’s just reflecting society back on itself.